A/N: Sorry for the delay! But this is my busiest time of the year.
So, yeah … longest chapter EVER! I probably should have split it, but I just didn't want to.
Enjoy! :-)
Christmas was quickly approaching and Draco could not believe he was spending it without Hermione. This was supposed to be their first Christmas as a married couple and here he was, alone and miserable. He didn't even want to think about what she was feeling right now. It was probably one-hundred times worse than his misery.
Really, Draco just wanted to skip Christmas altogether, but he couldn't do that with a kid living with him. Teddy was really excited for the holiday and even begged Draco to get a tree so, one weekend, he and Phillip took him out to pick one. Later that evening, they invited Andromeda over, decorated it and then drank hot cocoa by the fire. Apparently, it was a Tonks family tradition.
Every day since, Teddy had made a new ornament for the tree. He thought it didn't seem homely enough, which was very perceptive for a four-year-old.
Now, just a few days before Christmas, Luna was helping Draco with a present for Teddy and so they needed to get him out of the house. He and Teddy spent the day shopping in Diagon Alley but, afterwards, Draco had to visit the Love Chamber. He spent at least a little time in there each day, just in case that was the one he was going to have some huge breakthrough.
Kingsley had somehow found a way so only members of the Fellowship of the Dragon could now enter the Ministry on weekends. It was the same sort of magic Draco and Hermione had used to keep unwanted guests out of their wedding. As long as their names were on a list, they could Floo in.
Teddy sat on the table eating some candy while Draco looked through the journals Astoria had organized, trying to find something he could use. Phillip was scanning them with him while Neville and Hannah kept his parents occupied.
At one point, Draco could vividly feel a pair of eyes on him. He looked up to see Hannah was watching him.
"What's going on, Hannah Bear?"
Neville looked over and narrowed his eyes at him. Draco just smirked.
"Have you talked to Astoria at all?" Hannah asked, not even fazed by the nickname. "It's been a month since she moved back home and I've been sick with worry."
"Yes, her father's been keeping her on a tight leash," he said. "But I visit her at work at least once a week. She's fine. Just very, very bored. Hasn't even seen Daphne once since she's been there."
Hannah frowned. "I just don't understand what happened with her and Ron. They seemed so happy."
Draco shrugged. "She seems to think her father had something to do with it, but I asked Weasel about it and he says that's not the case. His feelings just aren't there anymore. He's a bloody fool, if you ask me. He'll never do better."
Hannah sighed. "I hope he comes to his senses. She really is crazy about him."
Draco nodded. It was true, though he couldn't imagine why. He really wished she'd move on already. It had been a month. Their longest breakup yet. And this time he'd kicked her out. Literally. Kind of a dick move. And Draco had just been starting to think that maybe Ron was all right. That passed quickly.
"Mum, stop touching that!"
Draco turned to see Neville pulling his mother away from the bookcase. She'd been trying to grab a book from it for a couple of weeks now. And always from around the same place …
"Let her grab it, Longbottom. I want to see which one she's been after."
Neville let his mother go and she stepped forward again. Her fingers grazed a couple of spines before finally landing on one. She pulled it out and tossed it at Neville. He looked at the cover.
"It's just Hogwarts: A History. Nothing spe - Mum!"
Alice Longbottom wasn't finished. She had moved her head really close to where the book had been and peeked into the dark space before sticking her hand in there. Apparently, there was some sort of trigger because, now, the bookcase was moving, and another room was revealed behind it.
"A secwet room!" Teddy shouted with glee. He tried to jump off of the lab table but Hannah held him in place.
"Let the adults look in there first, Teddy," she said.
He pouted but did not try to move again.
Draco and Phillip stood up and walked over to the new doorway, where Neville was currently holding his parents back. It was pitch black in there.
"Lumos!" Draco said, slowly moving his wand into the dark room.
He couldn't see anything but cracked stone walls, so he took a step inside.
"Careful!" Hannah called from behind him.
"I doubt there's anything dangerous in there, Hannah Bear."
"Okay, Malfoy, I know you think you're hilarious," said Neville, "but it's really time for you to stop calling her that."
Draco glanced back at Neville and smirked before taking another step into the room, holding his wand far out in front of him. He could just make out some torches on the sides of the wall.
"Incendio!"
Draco repeated this several times before the entire room was illuminated. It was a circular room with high walls that appeared to go on forever. He looked around curiously before walking into the center of it. As soon as he did, he looked up. Something was falling slowly from the dark abyss above. He held out his hands and caught a piece of parchment.
"What is it?" asked Phillip, stepping hesitantly inside.
"It's a spell," said Draco, reading the parchment. "Well, a series of spells, really. It looks like almost everyone who has been in here has adapted it slightly."
"What kind of spell?" Neville called from the other room, since he was still trying to hold his parents back.
Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Phil," he looked over at him, "care to be my test subject?"
"I would really rather -"
"Tuitio!"
Phillip screamed like a little girl and clenched his eyes shut as a weird blue light shot out of Draco's wand and circled around him. It molded to the shape of his body before shining brighter and then disappearing.
Phillip opened one eye, and then the other. "What happened?"
"I have no idea," said Draco.
"It looked like some sort of shield or something!" called Neville.
"It was very pretty, wasn't it Teddy?" asked Hannah.
"Wicked!"
Draco looked back at the parchment, and then at Phillip again, and then at the parchment, and then Phillip, then the parchment …
"When Hermione first told me about this room, she mentioned how Gappelish's goal was to somehow replicate self-sacrificing love in a spell and I had been wondering why there were no notes on it in the main room. Do you think this is it?"
Draco paused and waited for the others to respond.
Neville stepped into view, holding out his hands so his mother and father couldn't get past him. "Well, self-sacrificing love does sort of work like a shield, and that is certainly what that spell just looked like."
Phillip took a deep breath, stepped further into the room, and stood firmly. "Do the next one."
Draco raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
Phillip nodded. "For Hermione, right? Do it."
And so Draco did. And the next one. And the next. Until he had done every spell on that parchment. None were perfect, but the Longbottoms scribbling's at the end definitely seemed to be closest. It created a shield that illuminated around Phillip for a good five minutes. They shot a few spells at him that, if successful, wouldn't cause too much damage. For the first few minutes, all were blocked. After that, the more advanced ones were able to breach the shield.
Draco frowned. "It needs work."
"Still, this is a big breakthrough, Draco," said Hannah, who was now sitting against the wall in the room with Teddy on her lap.
"I know," he said. "I was just hoping this would be easy."
"I think the whole point is that this isn't easy," said Phillip.
By this time, it was already late and Draco had to get Teddy home to bed. But, before they left, he grabbed one of his notebooks and wrote down all of the most useful spells that were on that parchment, since whenever he would try to leave the room with it, it would become dust in his hands. It always came back, though.
For the next couple of days, Draco came to the Love Chamber and worked on the spell. Unfortunately, St. Mungo's would not let Neville take his parents out from Christmas Eve all the way until the New Year. At least now Draco had enough information to work on the spell at home. Otherwise, he would not have survived.
On Christmas Eve, Andromeda, his father, Hermione's parents, Regina, Madam Rosmerta and her father all came over for dinner. He, Phillip and Teddy were the ones to cook for once and, while the meal was not the best, it was edible and that was what was most important.
"How come Narcissa isn't here tonight, Lucius?" asked Emily as they all sat in the drawing room, sipping hot cocoa while Teddy shook his presents under the tree.
Lucius and Draco shared a sly look before Lucius said, "My wife had a previous engagement. We normally spend Christmas Eve at a friend's party but, this year, I felt it was more important to be here. Unfortunately, there was no way we could both get out of our commitment."
Draco had to bite his tongue. He was not sure why his father felt the need to cover for her. It wasn't his fault she was a selfish, materialistic bitch.
Draco immediately felt guilty for thinking such a word about his mother. Even though she was one.
When Teddy began to yawn, Draco asked him if he wanted one big present before he went to bed. Teddy, of course, said yes.
"Well, it's upstairs," said Draco, standing up and holding out his hand.
Teddy took it, already jumping with excitement as Draco led him up the stairs and all the way to the third floor.
Draco leaned down so he was at Teddy's level and gave him a little squeeze. "Your presents in there," he said, pointing at one of the doors across from the master bedroom.
Teddy grinned widely before running to the door and throwing it open. His mouth fell into a big 'o' shape as he stared into the room with eyes just as wide.
The entire room had been painted by Luna to show a child's vision of a starry dreamscape. There were hills and forests, flying brooms and giant hippogriffs. New toys decorated the plush, gold carpet, and the bed hovering above the ground was in the shape of a flying mustang.
"Is … is this mine?" asked Teddy after the initial shock had passed.
"Of course it is," said Draco, walking up behind him. "Even when you go back to live with your grandmother, I want you to remember that you will always have a place here."
Teddy beamed up at him and hugged his leg. Draco rustled his hair before leaning down and picking him up. "So your Auntie Luna did all of the pretty paintings. You will have to remember to thank her the next time you see her."
Teddy nodded enthusiastically. Draco put him down and he began running around the room, eager to investigate every little thing.
"Wow. You really outdid yourself, Draco," said Andromeda, walking into the room. "I can't imagine he'll ever want to come home now." She smirked.
"You know that was never my intention," said Draco, glancing sideways at her. "But I don't feel right furnishing the rest of the house without Hermione. It was nice to actually be able to do something different to this place."
"Or perhaps you were just really eager to have the guestroom to yourself again." She winked.
"I don't think so," said Phillip, coming up the stairs. "Teddy has his own grown-up room now and it's time for you to be one too. Go back to your own room, Draco, and let me have the guestroom. I've never been the best at transfiguration and that sofa keeps becoming a very lumpy mattress."
"Well, you could always go home to your loving wife -"
"Hey, Teddy, show me everything you got!" said Phillip, completely ignoring him as he pushed into the room.
After having to practically tear Teddy away from his new things, Draco read him a Christmas story until he fell asleep.
The adults all went back downstairs, where they drank hot butterbeer and firewhiskey by the fire. The Grangers were the first to leave - since they had to drive - followed shortly by Madam Rosmerta and her father. Lucius left just after midnight and Andromeda was getting ready to leave when there was a knock at the door.
"Santa?" said Draco, getting to his feet and going to the door.
He opened it a crack and peeked out. A cloaked figure was standing very close to the door, trying to keep out of the pouring rain.
"Oh, good! You're awake!"
"Seth?" Draco opened the door a bit more and the light from inside caught the eager blue eyes of his coworker.
"I'm sorry. I know it's late and, well, Christmas Eve and all, but I have just had an amazing breakthrough!"
Draco finally opened the door completely and stood aside so Seth could walk inside. "A breakthrough on Christmas Eve? Shouldn't you be off with Chastity or something?"
Seth blushed as he pulled off his hood. "Yeah, uhh … that's kinda over."
"Really?"
Draco and Seth both looked over to see Phillip leaning against the archway to the drawing room. Seth blushed even brighter.
"And why is that?" asked Phillip.
Seth looked to the floor. "You know why," he said under his breath.
Phillip said nothing in response.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were here," said Seth, lifting his eyes.
"I live here," said Phillip, taking a step towards them.
"Temporarily," Draco added quite sternly. "So what is this breakthrough of yours?" It was time to get back on topic.
"Oh!" said Seth, suddenly remembering why he was here and beaming brightly. "The Muggle microphones. I finally got them working right, so we can now install them hundreds of miles away and listen in from the comfort of our offices. You know? Like, as far as a pureblood summer home might be."
Draco's heart stopped. "You're not fucking with me, are you?"
"I wouldn't dare fuck with you, Draco. Especially about this. I don't have a death wish."
"Well … can I see? Will you show me?"
Seth's grin widened. "That's why I'm here. I figured if I'd waited to tell you, you'd kill me. And, like I said, no death wish."
"Well, let's go!" shouted Draco, already heading for the closet to grab his cloak.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Draco?" asked Phillip, also reaching into the closet and grabbing his own cloak. "Like the kid asleep upstairs?"
"Crap!" said Draco, flinching.
"It's fine. I can stay."
He turned around to see Andromeda standing in the entrance to the drawing room.
Draco sighed with relief. "Thank you." He went over and hugged her. "I shouldn't be long. I just want to see it for myself before making plans to start using them."
"You don't need to explain to me. Your wife's safety is the most important thing here. Take as long as you need."
Draco nodded and headed for the door with Seth and Phillip. When outside, they Apparated to the Thinx building and headed straight for Seth's lab. Seth proudly took out the microphone he had been testing and handed it to Draco.
"Say something into it."
Draco cleared his throat before moving the microphone to his lips and saying, "Testing."
Almost immediately, his voice echoed in a small, black box Seth had out on a table. Seth pointed and beamed at it.
"See? What did I tell you? And you can have different frequencies on each box, so we can keep track of which house we're listening in to."
"Seth, if you weren't so hideous I'd kiss you right now!" said Draco, practically jumping for joy when he heard himself echo again. He shoved the microphone into Phillip's hands. "Take this to your office. I want to hear it from a distance."
Phillip didn't even argue. He walked out of the lab and Draco leaned in close to the box, waiting eagerly for something to happen.
"Uhh … testing, testing …" Phillip's voice said not even a minute later.
Draco jumped again. This truly was exciting.
"Hey, guys … Umm, there's some weird noises coming from Sophie's office."
All excitement vanished.
"Get over here, please."
Draco and Seth looked nervously at each other before running out of the lab and towards Sophie's office. When they got there, Phillip was standing outside of her door with his ear up to it. He turned and beckoned for them to come closer.
"It's like a slurping sound or something. I don't think someone's robbing the place, but it's definitely weird."
Draco and Seth moved closer and put their ears up to the door too.
"Hold on," said Draco, moving back. "I've heard that sound before."
He slowly opened the door and used his wand to turn on the lights in the office.
"AHH!"
Sophie shot up from where she was lying on the ground and quickly grabbed the broom beside her. She whacked him with it. Hard.
"Sophie, what the hell?"
"Draco?" Sophie lowered her broom and looked at him curiously. "What are you doing 'ere?"
"I could ask you the same question."
Draco looked around and noticed that Sophie was surrounded by drained Purple Polly Flowers. Her face was covered in the sap. When she noticed him looking at it, she wiped her face on her sleeve.
"Tough night?"
"You could say zat," she said, picking up a fresh flower and sucking at it.
"I thought you were going to France to spend the holidays with your family?"
Sophie shook her head. "I could not face zem. Zey already zought I 'ad an affair wiz Phillipe when 'e was married to Chasteety. What will zey zink of me now?"
"All right. I can understand that. But why are you here?"
"I 'ave been sleeping 'ere," she said.
"For how long?"
Sophie shrugged. "Just over a month."
"Seriously?" a voice called from behind them.
Sophie's eyes widened as she tried to get a look behind Draco.
"Perhaps I should mention that Phil and Seth are here too," he said.
"Yes, that would 'ave been ideal," said Sophie, sneering as she got to her feet and wiped at her face some more.
Draco waved his wand at her to clean her up properly before opening the door wider.
"Why aren't you sleeping at home?" Phillip asked, peeking his head through the door.
"Why aren't you?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Because you are." He took a few steps towards her.
"Well, I do not want to stay zere. Eet ees all yours." And then she took a few steps towards him.
"Well, I don't want to either!" Another step.
"Seriously, you guys?"
"Shut up, Seth!" Phillip and Sophie both shouted, but without taking their eyes off of each other.
Seth held his hands up defensively and took a step back.
A door opened and then slammed in the hallway. Everyone jumped and Sophie instinctually grabbed onto Phillip's arm while he moved protectively in front of her.
"What the hell was that?" asked Draco.
Phillip and Sophie looked at each other before slowly lowering their stances and moving in opposite directions.
"Apparently, this is the place to be on Christmas Eve," said Seth.
"You and Sophie certainly thought so." Draco walked towards the hallway.
"Wait!" shouted Sophie, grabbing her broom off of the ground and running so she was in the lead.
"Sophie, you're a witch. What the hell are you going to attack and intruder with a broom for?"
"Would eet 'ave been better eef I 'ad 'exed you?"
Good point. "Give me that." Draco grabbed the broom from her and took the lead.
They walked slowly down the hallway, all huddled together as everyone's eyes went on full alert. Thunder sounded from outside and Sophie jumped a little.
The door to Seth's lab was closed, but there was definitely a rustling going on behind it. Draco grabbed the handle. Everyone readied their wands and he threw it open.
Chastity jumped when she saw all of them standing there, pointing their wands at her.
She put her hand on her heart. "Merlin, you scared me half to death!"
"What are you doing here?" asked Draco, stepping into the lab.
"Phillip text me, asking me to meet you all here."
Draco, Seth, and Sophie all looked at Phillip and raised their eyebrows.
"Oh, right! I forgot about that."
Draco and Sophie looked at each other and rolled their eyes before walking into the lab. Phillip was just behind them, but Seth did not move from the hallway.
Phillip looked back. "Seth, get in here."
Seth took a deep breath before following them inside and pulling the door closed behind him. He and Chastity avoided eyes.
"Is there any particular reason you wanted me to come in so late on Christmas Eve, Phillip?" asked Chastity.
"Umm … yeah." Phillip looked uncomfortably at Seth. "I hadn't realized the two of you stopped seeing each other."
Seth and Chastity both looked at him.
"And I probably should have mentioned this before … but I really don't have a problem with this. And by this, I mean you." He motioned awkwardly to both of them.
Seth went white. "What?"
"Yeah, I, uhh …" Phillip ran a hand through his hair. "I might have known that you had a crush on her when I first asked her out all of those years ago."
Seth quickly went from white to red.
"It was a dick move, I admit it, and it's exactly why I'm not going to stand in the way of this now. So …Seth, Chastity, you have my blessing. Just make sure to keep the PDA to a minimum in front of me. The thought of you two shagging kind of makes me want to vomit."
"Gross. Mental peecture. Mental peecture," said Sophie, clenching her eyes shut and trying to shake away the image.
Seth and Chastity were still looking at Phillip, both in slight shock, before eventually moving their eyes to each other. It was a long moment before they both smiled. They started to move towards each other, but then stopped. They both glanced back at Phillip.
"Oh, right. I suppose you want to snog. We'll wait in the hallway."
Phillip, Draco, and Sophie headed for the door while Seth and Chastity moved closer together. Draco reached it first and opened it. He gasped when he saw a shadowy figure on the other side. Sophie screamed and yanked the broom out of his hands, repeatedly whacking at whoever the intruder was.
"Sophie! Witch!" Draco reminded, tearing the broom out of her hands.
They all took out their wands and pointed them at the figure. The person, who had been crouching to avoid Sophie's attack, straightened up and looked at all of them, their eyes eventually stopping on Chastity and Seth, who were huddled together in the background.
"What the hell is this?" said Zandicus Thinx, furrowing his brow. "And just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower."
Chastity blushed slightly but still grabbed onto Seth's hand. "What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling Seth with her as she stepped forward.
"I followed you," he said, pushing past the others so he was now in the lab.
"Followed me? What, have you been spying on me?"
Zandicus didn't answer.
"Where the hell have you been, anyway? They've known you weren't the one to attack Sophie for months now."
Zandicus did not look the least bit surprised. "Yes, I've heard. But I had no reason to come back, so I just spent a few months in Aruba. I really needed the vacation."
"How lovely for you," said Draco, rolling his eyes.
"I don't expect you to understand," said Zandicus. He moved his eyes to Phillip. "I know we have had our differences in the past, but the reason I followed Chastity in here was because I was hoping to run into you. I would like to offer my services."
Phillip raised his eyebrows. "Really? How so?"
"I suppose you have already heard that the purebloods are recruiting for this 'prophesized' war."
"We have," said Phillip, looking at Draco.
"Well, they came to me about a week ago and I haven't given an answer yet."
"Are you saying you want to be a double agent?" Phillip couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Yes, that is what I'm saying."
"And the catch?" asked Draco, since there so obviously was one.
Zandicus smiled. "I think you already know the catch."
"Uh uh! No way!" shouted Sophie, stepping forward. "We won ze Zinx name fair and square! Zere ees no way we will let you 'ave eet!"
"Hold on a minute, Soph," said Phillip, putting his hand out and blocking her from the wizard he loathed. "If Zandicus is actually capable of getting us information we can use, then I say we give it to him."
Sophie's mouth fell open. "What? But Phillipe -"
"There are more important things to consider here than just a stupid name." Phillip looked at Zandicus. "If you successfully give us some useful information that leads to Hermione's rescue, then the name is yours."
"Phil, are you sure about this?" asked Draco. "I know how important the Thinx name is to you."
"Yeah, well, Hermione is more important, and I'm sure Zanzar would understand that. Besides, this deal is only valid if he's successful, and I'm still very doubtful that he won't betray us."
"I won't," said Zandicus very seriously. "But we should probably keep this as a verbal contract. Best not have any written proof of this."
He held out his hand. Phillip stared at it reluctantly before shaking it. When it was over, they both wiped their hands off on their cloaks.
"I'll be in contact."
Zandicus headed back for the door. Before leaving, he looked back at Chastity and then down at her and Seth's clasped hands. He grimaced.
"Whenever you're finished slumming it, Chastity, you let me know."
And with that, he left. Sophie stuck her tongue out at him before slamming the door.
"It's getting late," said Draco, walking over to the small box connected to the microphone. "Mind if I take this home, Seth? I want to experiment with it a little more before coming up with a plan on how to use them."
"Of course," said Seth. "I'll make sure to have several of them working by the New Year. That way, we can start planting them immediately."
"Thanks," said Draco. "Still have the microphone, Phil?"
Phillip took the small device out of his pocket and handed it to him.
"Don't hate me, but you know we cannot let Sophie spend Christmas alone in her office, don't you?"
Phillip looked at Sophie and blushed.
"Draco, eet ees all right," she said. "I really am fine."
"But you really aren't," he said. "It's just one day. You two will survive."
Sophie bit her lip and glanced sideways at Phillip, not wanting to say anything until she got the okay.
"It's Draco's house," he said. "If he wants you to come over then I can't stop him."
"Well, wiz an invitation like zat …"
"Ignore him, Soph," said Draco, picking up the box. "Just do me a favor and Apparate to my place holding hands. That photographer still likes to linger outside of my house and I don't want him snapping any suspicious looking photos."
"Let me just go grab my zings," said Sophie, opening the door and walking out of the room.
Draco glanced between Phillip and the open doorway several times before the other wizard finally groaned and followed her.
As soon as they were gone, Draco looked back at Seth and Chastity, who were leaning in and giving each other a tender kiss.
"I hope you know that PDA thing applies for all of us." He smirked. "Happy Christmas, you two. And visit your mother," he said sternly to Seth before Apparating home.
He had barely unlocked his front door when two 'Pops' sounded behind him. Phillip and Sophie held hands awkwardly as they walked up the steps. Right on cue, the photographer appeared and snapped a photo of them.
"Kinky." He winked.
"Do you truly not have anything better to do with your time?" Draco sneered before opening his door and pushing inside.
Sophie and Phillip entered behind him and he closed the door quietly. They immediately dropped hands. A quick glance in the drawing room let him know that Andromeda had fallen asleep on the sofa.
"Looks like your bed's taken, Phil."
They all walked towards the stairs.
"Only the one guestroom has a bed. I guess I'll sleep in my own room tonight, but you're going to have to figure the rest out for yourselves."
Phillip and Sophie both groaned.
"Really, Draco?" Phillip crossed his arms.
"What? Neither of you are sleeping in my bed. Figure it out," he drawled before heading up the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning."
It had been a long time since Draco had been in his own room. The bed was untouched. He went over to it and sat down, carefully stroking a pillow before sniffing it. It still smelled like her. He sighed.
Draco stood back up and put the microphone and box on his dresser before stripping to his boxers. From the moment he began working on Teddy's room, he knew nights were going to be lonely again, but he supposed it was all worth the look on the kid's face when he saw it.
After climbing into bed, Draco just lay there for a while, staring mindlessly at the dark ceiling. It had been almost four months since Hermione had disappeared. The fact that he had not found her yet made him sick. What he wouldn't give to have her in his arms right now.
Draco slowly drifted off to sleep with visions of Hermione in his head. Sometime in the middle of the night, a faint song entered his ears in her voice:
Are you sleeping under the willow?
Stars twinkling while your heart deep has bled.
Lay yourself down upon the soft pillow.
As true love enters the dreams in your head.
Draco shot up in a cold sweat.
"Hermione?" he called.
No one answered. But he could have sworn he had heard her voice. It was the most real thing he had felt in a long time.
When morning comes you will find him there.
Waiting for you while his heart deep has bled.
Love may be true but is not always fair.
As visions of true love enter your head.
Draco looked around frantically. It was her. It had to be. That out of tune but still sweet voice. He knew it anywhere.
But the room was dark, and it was empty. She was not here and, before long, the voice drifted away.
Draco lied back down and rubbed his hands on his face, only to have them end up wet. He hadn't even realized he was crying. He wasn't sure what had just happened but, whatever it was, he knew he had felt her there. Somehow, he just knew that Hermione had been singing that song. But how had it gotten back to him? Their love may have been strong but magic like this was more or less unheard of. Had she been trying to reach him? Or was it all an accident?
Draco shook his head and wiped a few more tears away before closing his eyes. He was being ridiculous. It was all just a very real dream. Nothing more.
It took a while but Draco eventually drifted back to sleep. The voice did not return.
XXX
Christmas came and went and before Draco knew it, it was the New Year. Only a few days into it, he discussed strategy with Harry and Neville on how they were going to plant microphones in pureblood homes.
The plan was for the Aurors to go around on another set of casual visits while Draco followed them inside, wearing Harry's invisibility cloak. They would distract the owners while he went around, placing microphones in all of the main rooms of the house. He would also search around as thoroughly as he could, but everyone was pretty eager to get them out of there, and he didn't get to do much of this.
It was really strange when they got to the Greengrasses summer home. Goyle and Daphne weren't there, since they were apparently on a pre-baby vacation, but her father was, and he was very reluctant to let them in.
While Arron led Harry and Neville on a walkthrough around the place - his way of showing he had nothing to hide - Draco planted several microphones. Two in the parlor, one in the kitchen, and several more throughout the hallways.
At one point, he heard a door open and saw Blaise come out of it. He started to walk towards the back of the house, but when he heard the voices he rushed the other way.
Draco found himself extremely curious as to what was behind that door. As soon as Blaise was gone, he opened it a crack, but barely got a look at a descending staircase before Harry, Neville, and Arron Greengrass were walking back down the hallway.
Draco pressed himself against the wall and, when they passed, he pushed Harry into the door he had left cracked open. Harry stumbled into it and barely caught himself before falling down the staircase. He sneered in what he thought was Draco's direction before looking back at the stairs.
"What's down there?" he asked.
"It's just an old basement," answered Arron. "Modeled by my father during the first war, so you can understand why we never go down there."
"If you never go down there then why was the door open?"
"I'm not sure," said Arron, obviously thinking of the many ways he wanted to kill Blaise in the back of his mind.
"Care if we have a look?" asked Harry, already on his way down the stairs.
"Not at all," said Arron, reluctantly following.
Neville walked down after them and Draco went last, making sure to take a step every time Neville did so Arron wouldn't hear an extra set of footsteps.
The basement had, of course, been converted into a prison. Every pureblood family had one. There were about half a dozen cells and all appeared to be empty, but Draco still felt like someone else was down there with them. He could almost hear faint and shallow breathing, but it could have just as easily been an old house playing tricks on him. Still, he wished he had kept an extra microphone to put down here, because something was definitely off.
"So you haven't used these since the first war?" asked Harry, walking to the back of the prison.
Arron watched him carefully, his eyes drifting ever-so-slightly to the back left cell. "Actually, it was never even used then. My father built it as a precaution but, as I'm sure you are well aware, no one in my family was ever a Death Eater."
"Yes, I am," said Harry, looking into the cell Arron kept trying not to glance at. Nothing was there.
"Well, if you are quite finished invading my daughter's and son-in-law's home, Mr. Potter, I believe it is time you were on your way."
"Yes, I suppose it is."
Harry headed back up the stairs. Neville stood back for a second and let Draco follow after him, both making sure to mimic Harry's footsteps. Arron went up last and securely shut the door behind him. As soon as he did, Pansy's hand fell out of the invisibility cloak Blaise had placed on top of her unconscious body.
Once outside, Harry and Neville mounted their brooms. Harry waited until he felt Draco climb on after him before taking off into the air.
"How'd you find the basement, Malfoy?" asked Harry as soon as they got a fair distance away.
"Zabini came out of it," Draco answered. "I wish I had another microphone, because I swear I felt something down there."
"Yeah, me too." Harry glanced sideways at Neville, who was scrunching his face like he was deep in thought. "Neville, what's wrong?" he asked.
"It's nothing. Just … you remember how last time we were there I used the loo?"
Harry nodded.
"Well, I just realized that during our tour we never passed it. And I swear we went everywhere. Did we miss a direction?"
"I don't think so," said Harry. "And I didn't sense any magic in there, other than these damn Apparating shields."
"If given enough time, a powerful witch or wizard can place an undetectable shield," said Draco. "They have probably been anticipating your return for a while."
"Do you think Hermione's in there somewhere?" asked Harry.
Draco took a deep breath. "I don't know," he answered honestly.
But he really hoped she wasn't. Because, if she was, then there was no possible way that Goyle didn't know about it, and Draco didn't think he could handle another betrayal. There was already enough betrayal in his life.
XXX
Lucius put his cell phone down on his desk after reading the text message Draco had just sent everyone about the microphones. It seemed that the New Year was already off to a great start.
Thinking he should celebrate, Lucius reached into his drawer and pulled out a bottle of mead. He frowned when he saw it was almost empty. Funny. He didn't remember drinking that much of it.
"Flukey!" he called, but the house-elf did not appear. Narcissa must have sent her off on an errand. He sighed before leaving his office and heading for the kitchen.
As soon as he was gone, Narcissa crept out of one of the rooms in that hallway and slipped into his office. Once inside, she scanned the area before her eyes finally settled on the Muggle phone on his desk. She went over to it and flipped it open.
Narcissa had seen Lucius use it enough to know how it worked. She immediately went to his received messages and started reading through them, like she did ever day to try and find some worthwhile information to bring back to the purebloods.
The most recent message was about something called a 'microphone'. She had heard Lucius talking on the phone about them once. It was some sort of Muggle recording device. And she could only assume that Draco saying they were in place meant he had planted them in pureblood homes. Narcissa smiled. This was just the piece of information she needed.
She put the phone down and used her wand to check for any presence in the hallway, before leaving Lucius's office. She stopped by their bedroom and grabbed her cloak from the closet before heading to the drawing room. When she got there, Lucius was just walking into it from the kitchen with a bottle of mead in hand.
"I'm going out for a while," she said while walking over to the fireplace.
"Whatever pleases you, my dear," Lucius said coldly. He headed towards his office without even looking at her.
Narcissa sighed before taking a handful of Floo powder and tossing it in the flames. She stepped inside the fireplace and said, "Greengrass Summer Estate."
Arron Greengrass had made it so people could not Floo directly to his summer home but, if someone tried, they would instead be taken to the local town. Narcissa arrived in a pub and immediately headed outside and across the way to an old bookstore. The fireplace here was the only one that would bring her to the right place.
Narcissa threw a handful of Floo powder into it and, once again, said, "Greengrass Summer Estate."
This time, she ended up in their parlor, where Arron Greengrass, Gorden Goyle, Stuart Parkinson, Orson Crabbe, Quincy Nott and Wiley Rosier were all sitting. They seemed to be in the middle of a very serious conversation.
"Narcissa," said Arron, rising to his feet. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I hope I am not interrupting," she said.
"No, no. We were just discussing -"
"Your visitors?" She raised her eyebrows.
Arron smiled. "Yes, actually. I suppose your presence means you have some information for us."
"I do," Narcissa said, taking out her wand and casting a spell to detect Muggle gadgets. She followed it over to a small table beside one of the sofas and put her hand underneath it, coming out with a small, black device.
"What is -?"
Before Arron could say anything more, Narcissa tossed it on the ground and crushed it with her heel.
"It is called a microphone," she said, picking up the remains and handing them to Arron. "I suspect you will find one in all of your homes. It is Muggle technology used to listen in on conversations."
"Well … you certainly saved us a hassle," said Arron, passing the crumpled device around so everyone could get a good look at it.
"Does that mean I can see her now?"
The men all exchanged looks.
"One question first," said Arron. "We have it on good authority that your son has found his way back into the Ever-Locked room. What is it he is doing in there?"
"Same as before," Narcissa answered. "Trying to create this new prophesized power."
All of the men laughed.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Oh, you'll see," said Arron.
Blaise suddenly walked into the room. "She's trying to hex me again. I don't know how her bloody magic keeps improving."
"If you're so afraid of her then send Theo in," said Arron.
"He's refusing," said Blaise, only now noticing Narcissa. "He's still angry you all won't let him leave."
"His services are needed here," said Quincy, rising to his feet.
"Oh please. You won't even let me owl my bloody girlfriend!" shouted Theo from Merlin knows where. "It's been over a month! Do you have any idea how unreasonable this is?"
"If I let you owl her, will you stop acting like a bloody child?" shouted Quincy to the walls.
A pause. Theo suddenly stepped through a wall he had apparently been hiding in. Narcissa was mildly impressed. Even she couldn't walk through walls, and he appeared to linger in them.
"I'll consider it," said Theo. "But I'm not covering for Zabini again. Maybe if he wasn't always such a prick, she wouldn't try to hex him every time he entered her room."
"Oh, this is ridiculous," said Arron. "Just send the bloody vampire in to see her and be done with it."
A flash. "You called?"
Narcissa's eyes focused on the new arrival. She was able to hold back her gasp but her jaw still dropped slightly. There, standing right in front of her, was her first boyfriend, Ethan. And he hadn't aged a day.
Arron looked at her wide eyes and groaned before saying, "Please do not run around here so freely when we have guests, Ethan."
"Sorry," said the vampire, glancing at Narcissa. His own jaw dropped a little. He shook it off. "Did you need something?"
"Yes, I will need you to feed the prisoner shortly but, first, go in there and bind her arms and legs. We need to pay her a visit."
"Of course," said Ethan, backing out of the room, never taking his eyes off Narcissa.
Once he was gone, Arron asked, "Is something wrong, Narcissa?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Do not patronize me, Arron. You know perfectly well what is wrong. What is he doing here?"
"Ethan?" said Arron, glancing in the direction the vampire had just gone. "He is my servant. Has been for years." He looked back at her. "Just to be clear, he has no memory of his life before this, and I would prefer to keep it that way."
"But how -?"
"I suggest you take that up with your husband."
Narcissa went white.
"Now," Arron smiled and motioned towards the back left hallway, "shall we?"
XXX
Hermione paced around her room, smiling to herself as she remembered the look on Blaise's face when she successfully cast a Stinging Hex on him. With Theo's help, her wandless magic was drastically improving. Only, he hadn't been around as much lately. She knew he was frustrated because his father would not let him leave. He was hoping to at least get a message to his girlfriend, who knew of his arrangement with Kingsley, but, so far, he had been unsuccessful.
The lock on the door clicked and Hermione quickly readied herself to hex Blaise again. She found herself mildly disappointed when Ethan walked in instead, carrying some rope.
"Hermione!" he said brightly. "The most beautiful woman I have ever seen is here! I swear I could almost feel my heart beat when I saw her."
Hermione smiled. "Really? Who is she?"
"I don't know," he said. "But they want me to bind you. I think they're bringing her to see you."
Hermione's smile faded. "What does she look like?"
"Beautiful," Ethan repeated as he walked over to her. Hermione held out her arms and he began tying them. "Long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes. And the creamiest skin I have ever seen. I can only imagine how sweet her blood must taste."
"Huh," said Hermione, who was all too aware who this mystery woman must be.
Ethan leaned down and began tying her legs. "There is something very familiar about her. I can't quite but my finger on it, but -"
The door opened again and Arron Greengrass walked in. When he saw Hermione's binds were in place, he looked behind him and said, "You should probably prepare yourself."
Gorden, Stuart, Quincy, Orson, Wiley, Theo and Blaise stepped inside after him, all with their wands ready. Hermione was actually sort of flattered that they found this necessary. Her magic hadn't improved that much.
Everyone stepped aside and made room for one more person to enter. Narcissa walked slowly into the room, keeping her eyes on Hermione's while all of the men watched in a fixed fascination. Once she was inside, her eyes drifted slowly downward and widened.
"Is that a Malfoy in there?" she asked, reaching out for Hermione's enlarged stomach.
Even with her bound legs, Hermione still hopped backwards. She didn't want this filthy woman anywhere near her baby.
"Of course it is!" Hermione spat.
Narcissa took a deep breath and looked at Arron. "You did not tell me there was a baby."
"Does it make a difference?" he asked, raising his wand slightly.
Her eyes moved back to Hermione. "Of course not. But what do you plan to do with it?"
"Daphne has already agreed to raise it."
The disapproval was all too evident in Narcissa's expression.
"Gregory is skeptical, so she took him away for the week to try and convince him. If she is unsuccessful we already have a backup plan." He glanced over at Blaise, who smirked.
Gorden stared daggers at both of them. "Do not get ahead of yourselves. My son is a good man. He'll come around."
"For your sake, I hope he does," said Arron.
Narcissa looked over and saw that Ethan was staring at her with googly eyes. She could not help but smile a little. It was good to know she still had it.
XXX
Astoria wandered through her parents' house, trying to organize her thoughts. She knew her father was up to something but, after a month and a half of living with him, hadn't figured out what it was yet.
And Daphne … where the hell was Daphne? She was supposedly pregnant, but Astoria had seen no proof of this. She hadn't even seen her sister once in all of her time here. And her parents hardly seemed excited about the idea of becoming grandparents. Daphne had to be at least seven months along by now and no one had even planned a baby shower yet. Something just wasn't right.
Astoria had heard from her mother that Daphne and Goyle were away on vacation together. This meant their house would be empty. It was the perfect time to start investigating.
Without another thought, Astoria headed for the drawing room and threw some Floo powder into the fireplace. "Greengrass Summer Estate."
She was quickly sucked away but was a little surprised when she did not end up in Daphne's parlor. Instead, she was in some dodgy pub. She looked around curiously.
"Yer that Greengrass girl, ain't yeh?" said a man from one of the tables.
"I am," said Astoria, looking at him. How in the world did someone so sketchy looking know who she was?
"Yer dad said yeh might be comin' by. Go across the street to the bookstore. That'll take yeh where yeh wanna go."
"Thank you," said Astoria, walking out of there quickly. She got the feeling the man thought she was Daphne. Oh well. No use correcting him.
Astoria went over to the bookstore, which appeared to be abandoned, and located the fireplace. She tossed in some Floo powder and tried her desired location again. This time, she landed in the correct place.
The parlor was empty, but several glasses were scattered around like people had been here. She glanced between the two hallways and eventually chose the one in the back left of the room. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but there was no harm in taking a peek around. If someone was here, she would just say she came for her snow globes or something.
With that excuse in mind, Astoria started walking back towards her old room. Only, she kept getting turned around and ended up in a completely different location. That was strange.
She stopped by the stairs to the second floor and took out her wand. After a quick spell, the hallway she hadn't been able to reach suddenly appeared.
While Astoria's gut told her not to go forward, her curiosity got the better of her. She took a deep breath and headed down the hallway towards her old room. When she got close, she could hear voices coming from the room right next to hers. She slowly walked up to it and put her ear against it. Several people were inside, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.
Astoria pulled away from the door. This was a bad idea. She should get out of here while she still -
The door opened and everyone's eyes widened a little when they saw her standing there. None more than her father's.
"Astoria, what-"
She wasn't listening. Her eyes had found their way to the center of the room, where a very pregnant Hermione was standing.
Astoria gasped. She stood there frozen, unsure of what she was supposed to do.
No one had moved. They were all just as unsure as she was.
"Run!" Hermione suddenly shouted.
Astoria's head shook back into focus. She looked into Hermione's eyes one last time before pivoting on her foot and taking off down the hallway.
"Blaise, get her!" her father shouted.
Astoria could hear Blaise coming after her, but she didn't dare look back. She got to the fireplace and tried to Floo to Thinx, since she knew Draco was working that day, but only ended up back in the bookstore. After several failed Apparating attempts - there appeared to be some sort of shield stopping her - she took off for the pub. Once inside, she immediately went for the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it in. She entered the flames and said, "Thinx Incorporated!"
Astoria just caught sight of Blaise entering the pub as she was sucked away.
"Where did she go?" Blaise demanded of the same man Astoria had spoken to earlier.
"Somethin' called Thinks," he said. "Dunno what it is."
He might not have, but Blaise sure did. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder, tossed it in, and followed her to Thinx Incorporated.
XXX
Draco, Harry, Ron, and Seth all stood in Draco's office, huddled around several black boxes.
"Each one is connected to its corresponding house," explained Seth. "I've labeled them so we know which one we're listening to. Just press this button here to switch between microphones." He pressed a button on the box labeled 'Goyle and Daphne'. After several clicks, he paused. "That's funny." He clicked through all of them again, eventually stopping on one that was dead silent. "This one doesn't seem to be working."
"Can you fix it?" asked Draco.
"I can try," said Seth. "There are a couple of things I'm going to have to get from my lab. I'll need help carrying them. Muggle tools are heavy."
"Sure," said Draco, following Seth to the door. "Weasel, stay in here and listen for any conversations, will you?"
Ron nodded and took a seat in Draco's chair. Seth, Draco and Harry all exited the room.
Ron began clicking through all of the frequencies on the boxes, eventually stopping when he heard something that sounded like running at Daphne and Goyle's house. It sounded like someone was being chased.
He clicked the button a few more times and stopped when he heard footsteps again. And then he heard Astoria's voice shout, "Thinx Incorporated!"
Ron stood up and looked out into the main office, but she hadn't appeared yet. Another voice repeated what she had said. Someone was following her.
"Malfoy!" he called, but no one answered. "Malfoy, hurry!"
Ron left the office and started to run in the direction of Seth's lab, but he was stopped by a panting Astoria, who Apparated right in front of him.
"Ron!" she shouted, grabbing for his collar. "Ron, they have Hermione! She's at Daphne and Goyle's in a room shielded by magic! You have to help her! She's pre -"
Blaise suddenly appeared behind her and threw his hand over her mouth. "Shut the hell up!" he shouted.
Astoria struggled against him as he wrapped his other arm around her chest and held her in place.
"I suggest you keep this to yourself, Weasel. Less you want to collapse dead."
Astoria stopped struggling and whimpered into his hand.
"Don't worry, Stori. It's not me who's going to do it. Your boyfriend here made an Unbreakable Vow with your father. Basically, he traded your life for Hermione's. How does it feel to always be second in his heart?"
Astoria looked at Ron, unable to control her tears when she saw the truth in his eyes.
"Zabini, if you touch her -"
"What?" Blaise laughed. "What are you going to do? If you help her, you're dead. Just remember that."
Blaise winked and leaned in close to Astoria, running his lips along her neck.
"I've been waiting for you to screw up for a long time, Stori. Oh, how I'm going to enjoy this."
Astoria whimpered again and tried to scream Ron's name as Blaise Disapparated the two of them away.
He took her to his flat, where he used his wand to bind her while he got his spare broom. After Apparating them to the closest possible point before the shield around the Greengrass summer house, Blaise mounted his broom, with Astoria struggling between his arms, and flew them back to the house.
When he got there, everyone was waiting for them in the front room, including Rita Skeeter.
"Did she get to anyone?" she asked the moment they entered.
"Just Weasley," answered Blaise. "And he can't say anything."
Arron stepped forward and looked nervously at his daughter.
"Arron, I must suggest that you leave," said Rita. "We can't have you going back on your vow to keep her happy now, can we?"
"What … what are you going to do to her?"
"It is better if you do not know. Please, leave."
Arron looked at Astoria one last time before taking a deep breath and heading for the fireplace. Once he was gone, Rita looked at Blaise.
"I'll let you decide the punishment, Mr. Zabini. I know you've been eager for this."
Blaise smirked. "With pleasure."
He picked Astoria up and carried her kicking and screaming towards the back of the house, not stopping until he reached her old bedroom.
"Blaise, no!" she shouted as he tossed her onto the bed. "Please, don't do this! You're … you're involved with Daphne, aren't you? I know you are! If you do this, she will never forgive you!"
"Oh, I'm not worried about that," said Blaise. "Rita already has plans to dispose of Goyle and, when she does, your father has given me permission to step in. What Daphne wants hardly matters."
"Blaise, please! You can't - AH!"
Blaise slapped her hard across the face. "I can do whatever the fuck I want!" He slapped her again and Astoria fell back. He began to climb on top of her.
"NO!"
Hermione shot up from her bed. She could hear everything that was happening through the walls. She ran to the door and held out her hand.
"Alohomora!" she shouted. Nothing happened. "Alohomora!" Still nothing. "Alohomora! Alohomora! Alohomora! DAMMIT, YOU STUPID MAGIC! WORK!"
Hermione ran over to the wall and started pounding on it.
"ZABINI! Zabini, stop now or I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!"
Astoria did not stop screaming.
Hermione began to cry hysterically and slid her back down the wall until she was seated. She brought her knees to her chest and sobbed into them.
"Astoria … I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
After a long moment of crying, Hermione noticed that everything had become silent. She lifted her head and listened. This sort of quiet could only mean that a spell had been cast. Hermione sobbed again and put her hand on her stomach.
"Thank you, baby. But that does not make what is happening go away. Please … help me get out of here."
But Hermione knew there was no magic in her right now. There was nothing she could do to stop this. It wasn't fair. Astoria was such a good person. She didn't deserve this. And all of this just because she fell in love with someone society saw as wrong. Much like Hermione.
XXX
Ron stood there frozen, unable to take his eyes off of the spot Astoria had just been. It wasn't long after they disappeared that Draco, Harry and Seth came back from the lab.
"What are you doing out here, Weasel?" asked Draco, walking right past him with his hands full of some weird gadgets.
They all went back into his office and Seth began fiddling with the box, trying to get the one dead channel to work. After several minutes of no success, he sighed and put it down.
"I think it's lost."
"Do you know which one it was?" asked Draco.
"It was one of the ones in the parlor. It was a good thing you put two there."
"Yes, but it's a big room. Hopefully, the other one catches everything."
"Draco."
Draco glanced up to see Ron looking sick in the doorway.
"Something wrong, Weasel?"
Ron nodded. "I … I've done something stupid."
"Did you break the microphone?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.
Ron shook his head. "No. This is much worse."
A pause.
"Well … spit it out."
Draco, Seth and Harry all looked at Ron expectantly.
Several tears ran down Ron's cheeks. He wiped them away. "Astoria's in trouble. You … you need to promise me that you'll help her. It can't just be about Hermione. She needs your help too."
"Weasel, Astoria's fine. I just saw her yesterday."
"Promise me!"
Draco raised his eyebrows. "Okay. I promise. Now, what is it?"
"I won't have long, so you'll need to listen closely."
Everyone leaned in.
Ron took a deep breath. "I made a deal with Mr. Greengrass to keep Hermione alive. They're keeping her at Daphne and Goyle's. Astoria found out and Blaise is gonna -"
Ron lifted his hand and clutched at his heart. His eyes rolled back in his head as he began to fall backwards.
"Weasley!" Draco screamed, running towards him in a panic.
"Congelo!" shouted Seth.
Ron went stiff and continued to fall back. Harry, who was closest, was able to catch him.
"Seth, what the hell did you do?" asked Draco, looking closely at Ron.
"I don't know!" Seth said with wide eyes. "It's a really strong Freezing Charm!"
"So you froze him mid-death?"
"I panicked! I mean, what the hell was that? He just started bloody dying!"
"I … I think it was an Unbreakable Vow," said Harry, his face still in shock as he stared down at his frozen friend.
"Well … fuck!" shouted Draco, bringing his hand to his head.
"What are we supposed to do now?" asked Seth, biting at his nails.
Draco took several deep breaths. "First, we need to get him to St. Mungo's. I'm going to have Kingsley meet us there."
"Why?" asked Seth.
"Did you not hear him? We know where Hermione is, and I'll be damned if I wait another minute to come up with a plan! We're going to get her back."
Draco looked down at Ron and felt a strange pang in his heart. This was it. They finally knew where Hermione was. But at what cost?
Hermione would never forgive herself if Ron died for her. Draco had to find some way to help him. To protect him. And he needed to abide by his wishes and protect Astoria as well. And Hermione …
"Fuck …" he said again. There was really no better word for this.